Another Exciting Saturday Night At Old Hippie’s House

So there I was, heading for the refrigerator for turkey or something. I had been sitting at my desk for hours, quite focused on doing some writing and web programming, and I had forgotten all about that fun activity known as “eating”.

This was bad, because apart from any of my other medical woes, I have this odd little condition called an esophageal spasm. For most people, it’s triggered by very hot or cold food, but for me, what seems to set it off is when I haven’t eaten protein in the past three hours or so. I’m pretty sure I went for four. Stupid, I know, but there you are.

Anyway, when this happens, 9 times out of 10 I just shove some food in my face, maybe burp a few times or gulp uncontrollably, and that’s all.

That tenth time, though…that’s the toughie.
When it doesn’t go away, I have to forcefully inhale very thoughtfully, because otherwise I feel like I’m losing my breath, which starts making me panic. And then I have to rustle up a nitroglycerin pill (how handy that I have to carry them for possible angina attacks) and stick it under my tongue. The nitro apparently relaxes the smooth muscles in the body, which helps not only blood vessels but also the esophagus problem. So in 15 to 30 seconds, the spasm is gone.

Well, apparently this was my tenth time of tenth times, or something, because it still didn’t go away.

So I took another nitro pill, which felt stronger, and gave me the characteristic “shit, I better sit down” feeling due to my leg muscles relaxing, lowered blood pressure making me dizzy, or whatever.

But the spasm still wasn’t going away. And I was starting to worry. If this went on long enough, I would have breathing problems, and that could lead to heart problems, and that would not be good.

I was breathing very loudly now, and very deliberately, because I had to breathe in when I could, between the spasms. This had started half an hour ago already, and I was starting to seriously think about calling 911.

When I think seriously, sometimes I get very creative. And I thought of one other thing I had around that had the potential to relax muscles quickly.

You guessed it.

But there’s no way I could even operate my vaporizer the way I was feeling, and all I had in there anyway was Sour Diesel, a sativa which wouldn’t be nearly as useful as a relaxing indica right then. I saw something else in my drawer, though…a bottle of Green Dragon that I had made from Purple Kush!

Green Dragon cannabis indica tincture

So now I stuck something else under my tongue: the dropper. I timed it so I wouldn’t squirt it down there while I was trying to inhale. It burned like hell, but then so did the nitroglycerin. And I gave it another shot for good luck.

About Old Hippie

http://gplus.to/OldHippie
Old Hippie is a father of two boys and thankfully living in California where all this kind of thing is legal. He started smoking marijuana in 1967 in high school, experimented with mind-expanding drugs of all kinds, and then straightened out 15 or so years later to become an airplane pilot. After being diagnosed with depression in 2000, he lost his job and most of the following decade to prescription medications (such as antidepressants) which sapped his energy and will. Finally, a chance conversation with a friend led to a doctor’s recommendation for medical marijuana (MMJ). This changed his entire life, health, and outlook for the better.
BeyondChronic.com is his continuing story. It’s also his way to provide experienced advice on using medical marijuana effectively and responsibly, as well as advocacy, activism, and support for others. Old Hippie teaches about safe use of cannabis edibles, Canna Caps, vaporizers, dosing, and even microdosing.
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White widow stops my esophageal spasms immediately. Also try drinking a tall glass of water. Hold youbreathe while you drink it (don’t breathe through your nose) sounds silly, but it works for me and others.

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